Biden-Macron news: Biden welcomes France as ‘essential’ partner amid criticism over state dinner details

The Bidens and the Macrons had dinner at a Michelin-star restaurant in Washington DC on Wednesday night ahead of the state dinner this evening.

The couples visited Fiola Mare, an Italian restaurant on the Potomac River in the Georgetown neighbourhood of Washington, DC where the entrees, such as pasta and seafood, cost between $50 and $150.

In an image tweeted by the president’s account, the group can be seen smiling for the camera.

Whole Foods will stop procuring Maine lobsters from 15 December, but sell the remainder of its supply, the grocery chain has said.

The contentious ban has sparked an outcry from Maine’s elected officials and the lobster industry.

Four members of Maine’s congressional delegation criticised the decision in a strongly worded statement.

“We are disappointed by Whole Foods’ decision and deeply frustrated that the Marine Stewardship Council’s suspension of the lobster industry’s certificate of sustainability continues to harm the livelihoods of hardworking men and women up and down Maine’s coast,” said senators Susan Collins and Angus King, and representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, along with Maine governor Janet Mills.

Mr Golden, a Democrat, took to Twitter to further criticised the administration.

“If the Biden White House can prioritize purchasing 200 Maine lobsters for a fancy dinner, @POTUS should also take the time to meet with the Maine lobstermen his administration is currently regulating out of business,” Mr Golden wrote on Wednesday evening.

The tweet was in addition to earlier criticism of Mr Biden from Mr Golden. On 5 October, Mr Golden sent a letter to the president outlining the “repercussions of his failure to protect Maine lobsterman as promised and urging him to oppose the right whale conservation measures currently proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” according to a press release.

“Given what we know — and what the data clearly demonstrates — about the low risk of Maine’s lobster fishery relative to other activities in right whale habitat, I cannot comprehend how you can stand idly by and not oppose in the strongest terms a proposal that has the potential to destroy thousands of livelihoods, hundreds of coastal communities, and the economic backbone of our state and the New England region,” Mr Golden wrote in the letter. “Your complicity thus far is a slap in the face to thousands of working people who are confronting the uncertainty of whether or not they can continue to provide for their families, that their communities will survive, and that their children will be able to continue Maine’s long-standing lobstering heritage.”

What can we expect from the French president’s state visit? It is Emmanuel Macron’s second state visit to the US in four years, and according to our DC correspondent, Andrew Feinberg, there’s a key reason for this meeting.

Read the full story here.

Presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron are celebrating the longstanding US-French relationship – but these are friends with differences. The French president is using his visit to Washington to sharply criticise aspects of the US president’s signature climate law as a bad deal for Europe.

French president made clear that he and other European leaders remain deeply concerned about the incentives in a sweeping new climate-related law that favour American-made climate technology, including electric vehicles.

Mr Macron yesterday criticised the legislation, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, during a luncheon with US lawmakers and again during a speech at the French embassy. The French president said that while the Biden administration’s efforts to curb climate change should be applauded, the subsidies will be an enormous setback for European companies.

“The choices that have been made … are choices that will fragment the West,” Mr Macron said at the French embassy.

He added that the legislation “creates such differences between the United States of America and Europe that all those who work in many companies (in the US), they will just think, ‘We don’t make investments anymore on the other side of the Atlantic.’”

American Osetra caviar, butter-poached lobster from Maine, beef, and California wines will be presented before Emmanuel Macron for a state dinner hosted by president Joe Biden for his French counterpart.

The Biden family and the Macrons will be part of a red, white and blue-themed gathering at a pavilion set up on the South Lawn of the White House for the first state visit hosted by the American president since he was elected to the office in 2021.

The menu, released in advance of the dinner to be served to 300-400 guests on Thursday, showed the gathering will dine on shallot marmalade, a selection of cheese from three different states, potatoes and beef, and wash it down with wines from California.

My colleague Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:

Everything from the menu to the entertainment to the table settings and other touches for the glitzy dinner were designed by the White House — and first lady Jill Biden — to highlight the ties that bind America and its oldest ally, France.

A state dinner is a high diplomatic honor that the United States reserves for its closest allies.

“The design of this dinner was inspired by the shared colors of our flags, red white and blue, and our common values, liberty and democracy, equality and fellowship,” Ms Biden said. “These form the bedrock upon which our enduring friendship was built.”

The first lady said she was handling the dinner the way that her mother handled family dinners when she was growing up. Her mother brought out the china, fresh flowers and lit candles “even if we were only having fish sticks from the freezer.”

“I learned that setting a table can be an act of love,” she said, before journalists were permitted to see the tablescapes for the dinner, which is part of a broader state visit to the United States by Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte.

“Our hope is that the end result will be a night that balances the beauty of our friendship with a seriousness of purpose,” she said, ”and we hope that French citizens everywhere feel the warmth of our welcome.”

White House social secretary Carlos Elizondo, who has worked for the Bidens for more than a decade, said “making people feel comfortable and at home” matters most to the couple.

Maine lobster poached in butter, beef with shallot marmalade and an American cheese trio will be served when French president Emmanuel Macron takes his seat as the guest of honor at a red-white-and-blue themed White House state dinner, the first for president Joe Biden.

Dessert will be orange chiffon cake, roasted pears and creme fraiche ice cream.

Everything from the menu to the entertainment to the table settings and other touches were designed by the White House — and first lady Jill Biden — to highlight the ties that bind America and its oldest ally, France.

The dinner will be held in a heated pavilion on the South Lawn with a guest list that is expected to top 300. Guests will dine at a mix of square and rectangular tables, covered with dark blue silk cloths and decorated with candles and arrangements of red, white and blue flowers, including roses and irises.

The White House yesterday defended the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), amid considerable pushback from French president Emmanuel Macron during his visit.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the legislation “presents significant opportunities for European firms as well as benefits to EU energy security,” when asked about European concerns.

The IRA has provisions that will contribute to the growth of the clean energy sector globally, she added.

French president Emmanuel Macron addressed US lawmakers from both political parties on Wednesday and pushed back over new American subsidies that are riling European leaders, according to a participant in a closed-door meeting.

Mr Macron arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his second state visit to the United States since taking office in 2017, ahead of which French officials said he would confront president Joe Biden over the subsidies contained in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

In a meeting with US lawmakers at the Library of Congress, Mr Macron said the Inflation Reduction Act was “super aggressive” toward European companies, one participant told Reuters. The participant requested anonymity to discuss a private part of the meeting.

Mr Macron’s office declined to confirm the comment, which was first reported by Agence France-Presse.

European leaders have complained about the legislative package, signed by Mr Biden in August, that offers massive subsidies for US-made products, which they say unfairly disadvantages non-American companies and deals a serious blow to their economies as Europe deals with the fallout from Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.

French president Emmanuel Macron was treated to lunch at the Library of Congress, where he addressed US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on climate change and biodiversity.

In his introductory remarks, Mr Macron said France and the United States should join forces to reform the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank so their funds can be directed to countries hit by climate change.

After Republicans won the House of Representatives in this month’s mid-term elections, Mr Macron’s efforts to reach out to both parties was a recognition he must look beyond Joe Biden, a Democrat, to advance cooperation with Washington, French officials say.

Mr Macron’s visit came as Nato ministers met in Bucharest and pledged more aid to Ukraine to help against Russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure as winter bites.

The alliance, of which the United States and France are founding members, was also discussing how to address challenges posed by China’s military buildup and its cooperation with Russia, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said. Mr Macron has said in the past that China should not be a focus for Nato.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on a briefing call that China would top the agenda during Mr Macron’s visit “because of the global influence that China is trying to exude and demonstrate and because of the security challenges that China continues to pose, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.”